Ana
Ana Luz was named after her mother, Luz Clarita. She was born prematurely and was hospitalized in an incubator for some time. It wasn't clear at the time that Ana Luz had heart problems. When she was a month old, Ana Luz developed a terrible cough for which doctors prescribed medication. Her mother knew that Ana Luz had something more worrisome, but doctors kept telling her that it was just a bad cough. She spent her first two years of her life constantly sick and short of breath every time she cried. At the end of 2018, Ana Luz was very weak and had to be sent to a hospital in the northern Bolivian city of Trinidad. Doctors diagnosed her with severe tricuspid regurgitation and determined she needed urgent corrective heart surgery.
The type of surgery Ana Luz needed, a tricuspid valve replacement, is not performed in Trinidad. The whole family had to travel to Santa Cruz so that pediatric cardiologists, Dr. Barrientos and Dr. Jaldín, could assess her condition and provide the necessary surgery.
Ana Luz's parents, Ricardo and Luz Clarita, were very concerned with the health of their only child but they didn't have the resources to address her urgent health issues. Ricardo works as a truck driver making a meager salary. They worried about how to pay for the surgery and post-op care in a city far away from their hometown of Riberalta. Fortunately, Doctors Barrientos and Jaldín told them about Puente de Solidaridad. Ricardo and Luz Clarita met with the staff from Puente de Solidaridad and left the meeting with new hope for the life of their daughter.
By the time that the procedure for Ana Luz could be scheduled, she had developed a severe endocarditis, and the surgery had to wait a few weeks. During that waiting period, Ricardo and Luz Clarita's friends and neighbors helped raise some funding for Ana Luz surgery. The shared solidarity of neighbors and support from Dharma Social Projects made Ana Luz's surgery a reality on May 3, 2019 at the Incor Hospital in Santa Cruz. Nearly three weeks after surgery, Ana Luz was released from the hospital. Her parents are happy to see their daughter smiling and getting stronger every day.